ECONOMY

Disposable income gap between Greece and the EU widens

Disposable income gap between Greece and the EU widens

It has only taken six years, from 2010 to 2016 inclusive, for Greek households to lose more than what they had gained in the entire decade before.

Eurostat data showed on Tuesday that Greek households’ disposable income fell 9 percent from 2000 to 2016, while in the European Union it climbed by 17.1 percent, despite the financial crisis halfway through that period.

The picture becomes more revealing when one observes that real disposable income in Greece rose 29.3 percent from 2000 to 2009, against an average increase of 15 percent in the EU.

In 2016 the proportion of Greek people at risk of poverty or social exclusion came to 35.6 percent, against 23.5 percent in the EU.

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